Austin Jackson

Austin Jackson's stock has been down this winter. Where people were predicting a future all-star last offseason, they are predicting a big league average player this year. So what happened? Well, he got to AA and produced .354/.419 for a .773OPS which was about 30 points above league average. Then he was sort of electric in the postseason before having a very poor showing in the Arizona Fall League. So who is he, the guy who OPS'd .964 in 67 games at high A as a 20 year old or the .773 OPS he was as a 21 year old? I don't think he's either quite yet, but I do still see him as having a chance to be an all-star.


There are 3 reasons I'm still optimistic about Austin Jackson's chances. First, he split a lot of time between basketball and baseball when he was growing, and while that does prove great athletic ability, it also tells us it will take him longer to catch up with the kids who were focusing only on baseball when they were growing up.


Second, his road numbers were a lot better than his home numbers at Waterfront Park. For some reason, I can't find them right now, but I did see them after the season and they were stark. Power is often said to be the last thing that develops and the Yankee minor leaguers play in a lot of homeparks that supress their power. This was even true when they played in Norwich. Take a look at Soriano's #'s in the Yankee system, he was older than AJack in the Eastern League but his power was also being surpressed.


So, why do I bring up Soriano? Because third, and the reason I really believe in Austin Jackson, is that he, like Sori before him, has absolutely sick bat speed. Sure, he has to keep learning the strikezone and walk more, but aside from patience, which can and should be drilled, the best thing a hitter can have is bat speed, and AJack has bat speed to spare, and at some point that's gonnna turn into power, just like it did for Sori. He just has to keep making up for the ab's he missed while he was off playing hoops as a kid.



So, because he is so athletic, is already a little better than his numbers, and has filthy bat speed, I still think Austin Jackson is gonna be a big time player. He'll be debuting in AAA as a 22 year old and I wouldn't be surprised if he appears to have a break out season. He has developed in fits and starts and I think all the work he did last year will pay off this coming season. I think he has the work ethic and is bound to succeed.